Marc-Andre Fleury named Penguins team MVP

Penguins/NHL Videos

About the only thing Marc-Andre Fleury missed Sunday was the obvious, that he is the Penguins' most valuable player.

The truth is there wasn't another player in the running for the annual award, presented to Fleury before he stopped 37 shots in a 2-1 shootout victory over the Florida Panthers at Consol Energy Center.

"I wasn't really expecting that," he said of the team MVP honor. "It's a nice reward to have. I just tried to put it aside and get two points for the game."

Earning two points - or, more precisely, willing the Penguins to two points - has been Fleury's specialty in recent games. Put more bluntly, the Penguins have scored a mere two goals in their last three games, and have won all three.

It doesn't get more valuable than that.

His name is starting to surface in conversations about even bigger prizes - the Vezina (top goalie) and Hart (MVP) Trophies.

"If he doesn't win the Vezina, he should be considered for the Hart," Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy said.

Added coach Dan Bylsma: "There's no question that he's our team MVP. He's been the backbone of our team. Starting with the Tampa Bay game (on Nov. 12), he's been outstanding all season."

Fleury's elite play has kept the Penguins within striking distance of Philadelphia for the Atlantic Division lead. With Sidney Crosby out since Jan. 5, Evgeni Malkin done for the season after a brief cameo Feb. 4, and newcomers Alex Kovalev and James Neal combining for only two goals since their respective arrivals, Fleury has carried the Penguins.

Since starting the season 1-6-0 with a 3.53 goals-against average and .853 save percentage, Fleury has gone on a 33-12-5 run. His goals-against over that span is 2.10, and he has amassed a .927 save percentage.

"A lot of our wins have been because of him and because of the confidence he has given our team," Bylsma said.

Fleury downplayed his recent play and being named team MVP. He becomes only the fourth goalie in team history - the last netminder to turn the trick was Michel Dion, 29 years ago - to claim team MVP honors.

"He's doing his job every night," Kovalev said.

While the Penguins' defense has been terrific most of the season, it decidedly was not against Florida. Fleury, who stopped 77 of 79 shots and 9 of 10 shootout attempts during his transcendent past week, bailed out the sloppy Penguins with sharp stops after defensive breakdowns.

He also set a Penguins record by playing 150 minutes and 14 seconds of shutout hockey before Florida's Ryan Carter scored in the second period yesterday.

Photo Galleries

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Print Source

Welcome to PrintSource, a division of Trib Total Media.

We have established a veteran team that provides daily and weekly newspaper companies with a comprehensive set of services that include design, print, packaging and delivery of their products, all from one source and location.

Gone are the days when each facet of newspaper printing and delivery had to be outsourced to different companies and venues. Now, PrintSource provides a viable solution with just one phone call.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.